The Writing on the Wall

I don't usually like those big, long-running American TV series as a rule. I can't usually get really absorbed in them. I tried to watch "Lost" but gave up after episode three - it was a bit pretentious, the writing wasn't good and above all it wasn't funny. To capture my attention, or indeed my heart, and make me want to keep watching, these programmes need to have an element of humour. I used to enjoy "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" a great deal, mostly down to the fact that Joss Whedon (the creator)is a self-confessed anglophile with a real appreciation of the British sense of comedy. I think that's what appealed to me, anyway, but having said that maybe British and American comic timings aren't as out of synch as people make out.

At the moment I'm really enjoying "Heroes". It can be annoyingly intense at times, but it's got enough lighthearted content and decent plot development to draw me in and make me care what happens next. I even had a discussion with the boyfriend the other night about the parallels between Sylar and Mr. Renfield from "Dracula" (he's nuts, in his cell, with his insects - it's uncanny, I'm telling you). You've got to admit, too, that the mantra "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" is pretty catchy. Which brings me to last night's episode of the American karmic realignment comedy "My Name is Earl" on E4. I do love that show - another example of American comedy making me laugh. Anyway, in this episode there was classroom scene with a bunch of kids standing in front of a blackboard. On the blackboard somebody had written, plain as anything: "Screw the Cheerleader, Destroy the World". Now that's funny, and an excellent antedote to the lingering temptation to take any of these shows too seriously.